Mushoku Tensei Jobless Reincarnation Vol. 5

to crack jokes and banter with each other? Very peculiar.

After a while, Paul said something or other, but I couldn’t manage
much of a response.

My replies grew increasingly brief and listless.

At some point, all the other customers had filtered out of the bar.
Before too long, we’d probably be asked to leave so they could get ready for
the lunch rush.

I guess Paul picked up on that as well. He moved on to our final major
topic.

“What are you planning to do next, Rudy?”

“First of all, I’m going to take Eris back to the Fittoa Region.”

“There’s not much of anything left in Fittoa, you know?”

“I know. But we’re still going.”

Even though Philip, Sauros, and Ghislaine were still missing, and we
probably wouldn’t find any familiar faces waiting for us, we had to go.
Getting back there had always been our objective, after all. We’d follow
through on our initial goal. And once we arrived in Fittoa, we could witness
its state with our own eyes.

After that, I could head up to search the northern part of the Central
Continent…or maybe even ask Ruijerd to help me get all the way back to the
Demon Continent. Hell, I could even try heading to the Begaritt Continent. I
did know the language, more or less. “After that, I’ll start searching other
parts of the world.”

“…All right.”

With that, the conversation petered out again. I had no idea what else
there was to say.

“Here.” At this point, the barkeep abruptly thumped two wooden cups
down in front of us. Tendrils of steam rose gently from the liquid inside
them. “That’s on the house.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Now that I thought about it, my throat was painfully
dry.

Once I realized that, I also noticed a few other things. I’d been

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clenching my hands tightly; my palms were damp with sweat. My back and
my armpits also felt oddly chilly. And my forelocks were plastered to my
forehead.

“Hey, kid. I won’t pretend I know what’s goin’ on here, but…”

“Hm…?”

“At least look the guy in the face.”

It was only when I heard those words that it hit me. I’d been avoiding
Paul’s gaze this entire time. After averting my eyes when he walked in, I
hadn’t looked him in the face again. Not even once.

Swallowing anxiously, I looked up at my father. His face was full of
uncertainty and angst. He looked like a man on the verge of breaking down in
tears.

“Why are you making that face?”

“What face?” said Paul, smiling weakly.

With his listless expression and hollow cheeks, he looked like a
completely different person from the man I’d known before. But for some
reason, I felt like I’d seen a very similar face somewhere before. Where was
that? I had the feeling it was a long time ago…

…Now I remembered.

I’d seen it in the bathroom mirror, back in my old house.

This would have been a year or two after I’d become a total shut-in. At
that point, I still thought I had time to turn things around. But I was also
aware that there was a growing gap between me and everyone I knew—one
that I might never be able to bridge.

Still, I was simply too afraid to go outside again. And so, feelings of
anxiety and frustration steadily built up inside me. It was probably the single
most emotionally volatile period of my life.

I see. So that’s how it is…

Paul had searched desperately for his family with no success. For all
his efforts, he hadn’t found a single scrap of news for ages. He worried about
us constantly. And eventually, he started to ask himself: What if they’re hurt?
What if they fell ill? What if they’re already dead? The more he thought

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about it, the more worried he grew.

And then, at long last, I showed up…with a cheerful smile on my face.
It was so very different from what Paul had imagined that he grew irritated
despite himself.

I’d once experienced something similar. Not long after I began my life
as a loser, somebody I knew from junior high stopped by to visit and started
to tell me about what was going on at school. I was deeply depressed and in
so much pain, but he talked about his life like he didn’t have a single care in
the world. It made my stomach hurt. I ended up snapping and hurling harsh
insults at him.

The day after that, I told myself that I’d apologize to him the next time
he dropped by. But he never came over again. And I didn’t reach out to him,
either. I let some sort of stubborn pride hold me back.

I remembered now. That was exactly when I’d seen that face in the
mirror.

“I’ve got a proposal, Father.”

“What…?”

“Under these circumstances, I think we need to try and act like
grownups.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess I wasn’t too mature yesterday… I’m not sure what
you’re getting at, though.”

The gloom inside my heart was melting rapidly away. I finally
understood how Paul felt now. Once I had that piece of the puzzle, the rest
was simple enough, really.

I thought back to the past again—to the day Paul had chewed me out
for fighting, and I’d fired back sharp words of my own. At the time, I’d been
less than impressed with his parenting skills. But he was only twenty-four
then, very young for a father, so I decided not to judge him too harshly.

It had been six years since then. Paul was now thirty years old. He was
still a good bit younger than I had been in my previous life, and he’d already
accomplished more than I ever had. When I’d fought with my friend, I didn’t
even try to patch things up. I just found ways to convince myself that it was
all his fault. By comparison, Paul was making a much better effort.

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I wasn’t the same person I was back then. I’d sworn to myself that I
was going to change, hadn’t I? I’d forgotten about that lately, but I couldn’t
let myself repeat the same stupid mistakes over and over again.

This was a much bigger fight than our last one, yes. But I was behaving
the exact same way I did on that day six years ago. We were both making the
same stupid mistakes all over again. I thought I’d come a long way since
then, but instead, it seemed that I’d been treading water. I had to
acknowledge that.

And more importantly, I had to take a real step forward.

“Let’s pretend yesterday never happened.”

It was a simple enough proposal. I was deeply hurt by what Paul said
to me in that bar. The pain had been almost unendurable. My friend, who’d
stopped by out of concern for me, must have felt something similar when I
pushed him away. And that was how things ended. We never saw each other
again.

It wasn’t going to turn out that way this time. I wouldn’t let my bond
with Paul be broken.

“The two of us didn’t have a fight yesterday. Right now, in this
moment, we’re seeing each other again for the first time in years. Got it?”

“What are you talking about, Rudy?”

“Don’t overthink this, please. Just spread your arms open wide. Go
on!”

“Uh…okay…” Paul spread his arms, looking a little dubious.

I promptly threw myself into them. “Father! I’ve missed you so much!”

His body smelled faintly of alcohol. He seemed to be sober right now,
but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was still nursing a hangover. When
had he started drinking so heavily, anyway? I felt like he’d barely touched the
stuff back in the day.

“R-Rudy?” Paul didn’t seem to know how to react.

Resting my chin on his shoulder, I slowly murmured a little advice.
“C’mon. You’ve just been reunited with your son. Isn’t there anything you
want to say?”

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This was all a bit ridiculous, yes. But even so, I hugged Paul’s solidly
built body with all my might. It wasn’t just his face that had gotten thinner.
His body felt like it was a size or two smaller than it was before. Of course,
I’d done some growing in the last few years, so that probably had something
to do with it; but it was obvious that my father had been through some very
hard times.

After a moment’s hesitation, Paul managed to mumble “I…I missed
you too.”

And once he got those first words out, it was as if the floodgates
opened. “I missed you too, Rudy… I missed you so damn much! I searched
and searched, but I couldn’t find anybody… I started thinking you might be
dead… I started…picturing you…”

When I looked up at Paul again, tears were streaming down his cheeks.
It wasn’t exactly a pretty picture. The man was sobbing like a baby. “I’m
sorry… I’m so sorry, Rudy…”

Well, great. Now he’s got me going too.
I patted the back of Paul’s head a few times. For a while, the two of us
just cried together.
And so, for the first time in five years, I was finally reunited with my
father.

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Chapter 5:
Objectives Confirmed

After that, Paul and I spent a long time just talking. We didn’t discuss

anything particularly important, deliberately sticking to more trivial topics for
the most part.

First of all, he told me all about how things had gone back in Buena
Village during the years I spent in the Citadel of Roa.

Paul had two wives at this point, but that apparently hadn’t translated
into twice the “fun.” Zenith and Lilia had had some secret discussions and
worked out an agreement. As a general rule, Paul was expected to keep his
hands off Lilia. The one exception would be if Zenith were to get pregnant
for the third time, but in that case Paul would be required to get her approval
beforehand.

Zenith was still a bit conflicted about their arrangement, but I guess
she’d mostly come to terms with it. That was certainly very convenient for
my father. I was a little envious, to be honest.

“So, do you think I had a third little sister on the way?”
“Nah. For some reason, it wasn’t happening for us… I dunno why. We
made you on our first try.”

“You took one shot at it and got yourself a son this perfect? What a
lucky man you are, Father.”

“You really think you’re funny, don’t you?”
This didn’t seem like the sort of conversation an eleven-year-old
should be having with his father, but we were both enjoying it anyway.

One thing we didn’t discuss was whether Zenith and Lilia were even
still alive. It was the elephant in the room, but we both knew bringing it up
would only put us in a miserable mood.

“Was Sylphie managing all right without me?”
“Oh yeah. That girl’s amazing, Rudy. I guess you’ve got some talent as
a teacher.”

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From the sound of things, Sylphie had been doing well. She spent her
mornings running and practicing basic magical techniques, and in the
afternoons, she usually worked on her healing spells with Zenith.

Incidentally, little Aisha had also started getting lessons from Lilia
after a few years, although those mostly covered stuff like etiquette rather
than spellcasting.

“Anyway, that kid’s definitely…uh, I guess earnest is the word. She
was always coming over to our place to do something or other in your room.”

“…Do you know if Sylphie happened to find anything in there?”

“What? Was there something hidden away you didn’t want her
seeing?”

“No, no! Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, Father.”

Ha ha. What a preposterous suggestion.

“Well, it’s all gone now either way, I guess.”

From what Paul told me, virtually every object in the Fittoa Region had
disappeared in the disaster. That included everything from small things like
quill pens and ink bottles to large structures like buildings and bridges. The
only exceptions were the items people had on their person in the moment
they were teleported.

“Oh. I see…”

That was a pity. I couldn’t quite remember why it was a pity, but I felt
a definite twinge of melancholy anyway.

“So what were you up to back then, Rudy?”

“Oh, you mean in Roa?”

I obligingly launched into a quick summary of my time as a tutor.

The story began with my first day on the job, when Eris punched me
and I nearly gave up entirely, then moved on to our “unfortunate”
kidnapping. I explained that Eris warmed up to me a bit after I got us out of
that predicament, but still refused to take my lessons seriously.

Next, I described how I’d gone crying to Ghislaine for help, and how
she’d convinced the little lady to pay attention in class. And after that, I
covered how my relationship with Eris had gradually improved, our dance

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lessons, and the events of my tenth birthday.

“Ah, right. Your birthday. Sorry about that, kid…”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Well, I couldn’t even be there, you know?”

To the people of the Kingdom of Asura, a child’s tenth birthday was an
event of monumental importance. I still didn’t understand exactly why, but it
seemed to be considered some sort of lucky milestone. Your family was
supposed to have a big celebration and shower you with gifts.

“That’s all right. Eris’ family threw me a wonderful party.”

“Oh yeah? What did they give you?”

“A very nice staff, although the name’s a bit embarrassing. It’s called
Aqua Heartia—Arrogant Water Dragon King.”

“What’s wrong with that name? Sounds pretty cool to me.”

Was he serious? Just saying that whole thing out loud made me want to
bury myself in a hole. Maybe in this world it was normal to give overblown
names to more powerful items.

“Oh, didn’t they give you one other gift, Rudy? I heard all about it
from Alphonse.”

“Another gift?” Hmm. Now what would that be? Wisdom, courage,
and unlimited power? I felt like I was still a little lacking on all those fronts,
though…

“C’mon, I’m talking about Philip’s daughter. Today was the first time
I’d ever seen her, but she’s one cute kid. And so devoted, too! That was
downright heartwarming, the way she protected you…”

Nobody really gave Eris to me, though.

I mean, Philip did say I had his permission to make a move, but I
hadn’t actually done much of anything yet. I cared about Eris, and I didn’t
want to rush things. Just yesterday, she’d been there for me when I needed
her most. I’d never had anyone hug me and stroke my head until I fell asleep
like that before. There was no way I’d ever betray her trust. She’d promised
me that we could take the next step when I turn fifteen. But even then, I’d
hold back if she wasn’t ready yet.

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Of course, I did have a slightly overactive sex drive, which might be
even stronger in four years. There was a chance I wouldn’t be able to control
myself…but, for the moment, I was planning to try.

“Eris is important to me, yes. I’d rather not talk about her like she’s
some object I received from her parents, though.”

“Well, I guess you’re marrying into their family, so it’s more like
they’re receiving you.”

“Wha—?” Who’s marrying into what?

“You’re going to join the nobility with Philip’s support, right?”

“What are you talking about? When did anyone say anything about
that?”

“Huh? It was a year or so before the disaster, I think. Philip sent me a
letter saying you and Eris were really hitting it off, so he wanted you to marry
into his family. If you ask me, the Asuran nobility are a bunch of rotten
scumbags, but I said you could do what you wanted…”

Interesting. So Philip had already reached out to Paul about that before
our conversation on my tenth birthday. Even if I’d shot down the idea, he was
probably planning to spend the next few years trying to push the two of us
together. That wasn’t some spontaneous proposal at all.

In any case, that explained why Paul jumped to a few conclusions
about me and Eris. Two young people in love, stranded in an unfamiliar land,
all alone and deeply anxious? You’d kind of assume they would “get to know
each better” over the course of their journey.

“From the look on your face, I’m guessing Philip set you up.”

“It would appear so, yes.”

The two of us heaved simultaneous sighs. Philip was a devious man,
but you probably had to be to survive in the ruthless, cutthroat world of the
Asuran high nobility.

“Either way, it seems like you’re pretty friendly with the little lady.
Does that mean Sylphie’s…” Paul hesitated mid-sentence. “Uh, sorry. Forget
I said anything.”

Sylphie remained among the missing, as far as either of us knew. Still,

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I found myself considering the question Paul had begun to ask.

I did care about Sylphie, but what I felt for her wasn’t quite the same as
what I felt for Eris. She was more like a little sister to me, or maybe even a
daughter. It upset me when I saw her getting picked on, and I wanted to help
her grow up strong and happy, but we’d parted before those feelings could
develop into anything more.

It wasn’t that different from what I had with Eris, but these days she
was supporting me as much I was helping her. If you asked me which of
them I was more interested in right now, the answer would have to be Eris.

But of course, it wasn’t like I’d done a thorough side-by-side
comparison. It was all about the amount of time we’d spent together, really.
Eris had been a part of my life for years now. People love writing stories
about guys reuniting with their childhood friends, but it’s easier to fall for
someone when you’ve spent a long time at their side. By now, I’d been with
Eris for twice as long as I’d been with Sylphie. And our years together had
been eventful, to say the least.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wasn’t worried about my missing friend.

“I hope Sylphie’s all right…”

“Well, the girl isn’t quite on your level, but she’d been working her
butt off. I mean, she can use healing magic without incantations, you know?
That’s enough to make a living anywhere you go. Healers are real valuable,
at least outside the Millis Continent.”

“Oh. Right…” Huh? Wait. Did he just say what I think he said? “Hold
on. Sylphie can cast healing spells silently?”

“Hm? Yeah. Zenith was shocked at first. But you can do that too, can’t
you?”

“Not with healing magic, no.” I didn’t understand the underlying
principles behind those spells, so I’d never managed to cast them silently. No
matter how many times I used them, I couldn’t figure out the mechanisms by
which they healed the body.

“No kidding?”

“Nope. I can only cast those spells if I use the incantations.”

“Well, I’m not gonna pretend I know much about magic, but they say

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everyone’s naturally better with some kinds than others, right? I guess
Sylphie’s just got a knack for healing.”

Maybe Sylphie had gotten way stronger than me since we were
separated. Now I was a little afraid of seeing her again. What if she took one
look at my magic and said “You haven’t improved at all, Rudy”…?

Paul and I kept on talking for a while. By the end of our conversation,
the chasm that had opened up between us disappeared entirely.

In the early evening, two of Paul’s comrades came over to fetch him.

Specifically, it was the bikini-armor lady and her magician pal. The
former was wearing drab, ordinary clothes today, for whatever reason. It was
a dramatic change from that getup she had on yesterday. She had been one of
the causes of our fight, though… Maybe she was trying to be considerate?

“Father.”

“Yeah?”

“I do trust you, of course. But after everything that happened
yesterday, I just want to formally double-check… You’re not having an
affair, are you?”

“Hell no.”

That was good to hear. We’d both jumped to conclusions yesterday.
Instead of getting the actual facts, we just accused each other of being sex-
crazed idiots without… Whoops. No, no. I’d already officially erased those
events from history.

In any case, it didn’t seem like Paul had any time or energy to spare for
womanizing right now. He was focused on finding his family, and he wasn’t
about to risk breaking it apart. I’d have to learn from his example and cut
back on my own perverted antics.

“Rudy. You’re going to escort Eris back to the Fittoa Region, right?”
Before he left, my father apparently wanted to confirm that my mind was
made up.

“Yes,” I replied with a firm nod. “But would you rather I join the
Search and Rescue squad as well?”

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“No, that won’t be necessary. We have an obligation to deliver any
members of the Boreas family we find back to Asura, either way.”

“That makes it sound like a very important mission. Are you okay with
leaving it in my hands?”

“I can’t think of anyone better suited for the job. And you’ve already
earned her trust, obviously.”

Evidently Paul had a lot of faith in me. Maybe too much faith,
honestly. I felt like he tended to overestimate my capabilities. It didn’t really
matter, though. Whatever he thought of me, I was going to try and live up to
his expectations this time.

“Of course,” said Paul with a smirk, “I could always assign her a
couple bodyguards if you’d rather stay here in Millishion instead.”

Oh, please.

In purely rational terms, splitting up from Eris here was a valid option.
Not that I’d stay in Millishion in that event—I could just go off and search
another part of the world for my family. Returning to the Demon Continent
might be a reasonable approach, for example.

But that was only true on a purely rational level. I couldn’t just
abandon Eris for my own benefit. I had to get her back home safe.

Also, the idea of leaving my job half-done so I could work on
something else brought back a few unpleasant memories. In my previous life,
I’d never really finished anything I started. I didn’t want to fall back into that
destructive habit. Knowing me, it would probably end up with Eris failing to
reach Fittoa safely, and my solo search of the Demon Continent turning up
absolutely nothing.

Better to focus on one thing at a time, then. There was also the whole
Ruijerd issue to consider, after all. It was hard to imagine our stubborn friend
getting along with some random members of the Search and Rescue Squad,
and he’d probably be furious if I tried to drop out of our party now. In his
book, that would qualify as conduct unbefitting of a warrior.

“It’s nice of you to offer, but I do think it would be best for me to
escort her back.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we’ve got anyone stronger than you in the squad,

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anyway. Not surprised you wouldn’t want to hand the job off.” There was a
hint of a grimace on Paul’s face as he said those words.

Maybe he was a little self-conscious about the fact I’d beaten him in a
fight? He was clearly tipsy at the time, so I felt like it didn’t count…but if I
said so now, it would probably be more humiliating than anything else.
Sometimes the best move is just to keep your mouth shut.

“Anyway, how long will you be staying in Millishion?”

“Well, we’re planning to earn money here for the next leg of our
journey, so probably about a month.”

“We can cover your traveling expenses,” said Paul. Turning toward the
two young women waiting behind him, he spoke to the meek-looking
freckled magician. “We’ve got some set aside, right?”

“Yes. Mr. Alphonse entrusted us with funds to be used in the event we
located any members of the Boreas family.”

Evidently, the former family butler had left Paul with a lump of money
intended to ensure a comfortable journey back home for any member of Eris’
family they found on Millis.

“Right. So that’s all yours.”

“I see… Well, I’m glad you didn’t blow it all on booze.”

“Why do you think I put Shierra in charge of the money?” For some
reason, Paul actually sounded proud of himself. Kind of sad, but I wasn’t
going to say anything.

“How much money is this, exactly?” I asked.

“It’s the equivalent of twenty king’s dollars,” Shierra responded
instantly.

King’s dollars were the most valuable currency on the continent of
Millis. Using the one yen to one stone coin scale, they were the equivalent of
roughly 50,000 yen apiece. So twenty of those would be…

“One million yen!”

“…One million what?” said Paul, raising an eyebrow.

Okay, so maybe my initial reaction was a little too gleeful. Can you
really blame me, though? For the last year and a half, I’d been obsessing over

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every coin we spent, and now they’d dropped a cool million in my lap out of
nowhere.

“Seriously, though?! With that kind of money, you could spend your
whole life messing around!”

“Well, you could probably build yourself a house in the south with that
much, I guess. But it’s not gonna last you a lifetime.”

What? But it’s a million, man! One million yen! That’s like…what, a
thousand green ore coins?! You could even buy a Superd passage on a boat
with that!

Oh, that reminds me.

“Hm. There’s still one other problem we’ll have to deal with, actually.”

“Seriously? What’s that?”

“Back in Wind Port, they wanted a ridiculous amount of money to let a
Superd on the boat to Millis. I’m not sure how things are in West Port, but
I’m assuming they’ll demand some huge fare as well. I don’t know if even
twenty king’s coins will be enough…”

“Ah, right…” Paul folded his arms thoughtfully. Surely he wasn’t
going to suggest that I leave Ruijerd behind or anything?

“Shierra, what do they charge to bring a Superd over to the Central
Continent?”

With a small nod, Shierra promptly replied “One hundred king’s
coins.”

Had she memorized all the fares or something? This girl seemed to be
really on top of things. She did kind of look like the ‘quick-witted secretary’
type, come to think of it…

As I looked in Shierra’s direction, our eyes briefly met. She let out a
little scream and instantly looked down at the floor. The ex-bikini lady
casually stepped forward to hide her from my view. I couldn’t help feeling
hurt.

“I’m sorry, but she’s a little uncomfortable with eye contact. Could you
try not to look at her too much?”

“Uhm, okay…”

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I’d gotten my relationship with Paul back to normal, but apparently the
other members of his squad still weren’t too fond of me. Well, I’d just have
to live with that.

More importantly…a hundred king’s coins, huh? That was roughly five
million yen we were talking about. Not really the kind of cash you can scrape
together in a hurry. It was enough to make a man sigh.

“Why’s it always so expensive for the Superd in particular, anyway?”

“It’s mainly because the rules were established some time ago, back
when the persecution of that tribe was at its height,” replied Shierra from
somewhere behind the bikini-armor lady.

From the tone of her voice, you might have thought this was common
knowledge, but even the people working at the checkpoint in Wind Port
hadn’t been able to tell me that. The girl’s chest was fairly small, but
apparently, she had a massive brain.

“Also, the noble who runs the customs station at West Port is well-
known for his hatred of demonkind,” added Paul. “Even if you came up with
the money, he might find some reason to deny you passage.”

“You don’t say. Uhm…could we ask Mother’s family to pull some
strings on our behalf, maybe?”

“Sorry, but as it is, they’re already going out on a limb for us. We can’t
drag them into any more trouble right now.”

In other words, we’d probably need to turn to smugglers again. That
hadn’t turned out too well last time, so I’d been hoping to find another way.
For one thing, we were still on the same continent as the group we’d
attacked. If the local crooks had connections to some larger syndicates, we
might be on some sort of blacklist at this point.

The more I thought about the problem, the more it made my head ache.

“All right then. We’ll just figure something out ourselves.”

“Sorry, kiddo,” Paul said, then grinned and turned to the women
waiting behind him. “Hey, so what do you think of my little guy? Talk about
self-reliant, right?”

“Uhm, sure.”

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“Err…”
The two of them looked at each other, smiling awkwardly. Not sure
what he was expecting them to say. Did he even remember that whole
“fistfight in a bar” thing from yesterday?
“Father, you really shouldn’t make a habit of asking young ladies to
evaluate your ‘little guy.’ It might tarnish the reputation of the Greyrat
family.”
“Your dirty jokes aren’t helping either, kid!”
Paul and I both burst into laughter. The two women in the room were
visibly not amused, but you can’t please everyone.
“All right then, Rudy. It’s about time for me to get going.”
“Okay.”
Finally rising from his seat, Paul rolled his shoulders with an audible
pop. I hadn’t even noticed, but we’d apparently been talking for quite a long
time.
When I glanced over at the counter, the barkeep had a somewhat wry
smile on his face. We’d taken up one of his tables right through the lunch
rush, hadn’t we? I’d have to leave a good tip when I paid up.
“Once you’ve worked out your plans, get in touch with me. We should
least have dinner with Norn before you hit the road.”
“Sounds good to me.”
With that, Paul sauntered out of the bar, the two young women
following closely in his wake.
He really did look like a dirty old man sometimes, didn’t he?

***

Not long after Paul left, Eris and Ruijerd came back into the bar. Eris
was sporting a black eye, and Ruijerd had a distinctly unhappy expression on
his face.

“What happened, you two?”

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“Nothing,” said Eris, folding her arms with an irritated little snort.
“How did things go with that man?”

“We made up with each other.”

As soon as those words left my mouth, Eris’ eyebrows creased sharply
together.“What?! Why?!” She punctuated her question by slamming her fist
down on the table so hard that it loudly broke apart.

My goodness, what a powerful young lady…

“I see,” said Ruijerd calmly. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“Rudeus!” Eris grabbed me forcefully by the shoulders. And I do mean
forcefully. The girl’s grip was really something else. “Why would you do
that?!”

“What do you mean, why?” I asked, somewhat taken aback.

“Don’t you remember how depressed you were yesterday?!”

“Well, of course. And I appreciate what you did for me. That hug
really calmed me down.”

It was only thanks to Eris that I’d managed to look Paul in the face
today. If she hadn’t been there to comfort me, I might have stayed shut up in
my room for days.

“That’s not what I’m talking about! That man didn’t even show up for
your tenth birthday, Rudeus. And the way he treated you yesterday was
unbelievable! You had to travel all the way across the Demon Continent!
You got locked up in a jail cell in the Great Forest, for crying out loud! But
when you finally, finally made it back to him, he basically told you to get
lost! How can you just forgive that jerk?!”

Wow. That was quite a rant.

I understood where Eris was coming from. When you put it in those
terms, Paul did sound like a really crappy father. I could even have believed
that he hated my guts. If I was an ordinary child, his actions would have been
unforgivable.

But the way I saw things, it was inevitable that he’d make a few
mistakes trying to deal with a son like me. I was reincarnated with my
memories intact, and I took full advantage of that from the very start. How

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could anyone be expected to be a “normal” dad to a kid that weird? Paul had
had a hard time figuring out how to interact with me, let alone how to raise
me. And to be honest, I don’t think he really knew what it meant to be a good
father in the first place…not that I did either, of course.

As his son, all I needed to do was watch his awkward attempts at
parenting with warmth, understanding, and just a pinch of condescension.
Paul could mess up as many times as he needed to. I’d take his mistakes in
stride. They weren’t going to hurt me as deeply as that fight yesterday did.

But of course, we’d be going our separate ways soon anyway.

“Eris.”

“Yeah? What…?”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Eris was angry because she cared about me.
But as far I was concerned, the whole thing was already in the past. “My
father’s a human being. Everybody makes mistakes, okay?”

With that said, I put my hand to her face and got to working healing
her bruise. Eris accepted my attentions tamely enough, but the look on her
face told me that she wasn’t convinced. Once I’d finished with my spell, she
stomped sulkily back to our room at the inn.

As we watched her walk off, I spoke to the third member of our party.
“So, Ruijerd…”

“What is it?”

“Where did that bruise on her face come from?” That thing definitely
wasn’t there yesterday.

“I had some trouble stopping her,” Ruijerd replied in a level tone of
voice.

Hmm. Normally, he was the kind of guy who’d explode in righteous
anger if he saw someone strike a child, but maybe his principles were more
flexible than I thought. Eris must have thrashed around like a lunatic in her
fury. And of course, the two of them did spar constantly, so this was hardly
the first time he’d given her a bruise or two…

Looking at his face more closely, though, I realized that wasn’t really
relevant. Ruijerd wasn’t calm right now. He wasn’t an expressive man, but I
could see something like anguish in his eyes.

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He never wanted to hit her. He must have had no choice.

I didn’t know exactly what had happened, or what words they’d
exchanged. But there was one thing I could say for sure: It was my fault the
two of them got in a fight. But I was able to make peace with Paul as a
result…which meant I ought to be more grateful than anything.

“Thank you, Ruijerd. It would have been tricky to make up with my
father if she’d murdered him.”

“There’s no need to thank me.”

Still, at this point Ruijerd apparently needed to punch Eris to stop her.
That girl just got stronger and stronger by the day.

A little while later, the three of us held a quick team meeting.

“Okay then. Let’s get our second official meeting in Millishion
underway, people!”

This time, we were conducting our business in the bar rather than our
room. Come to think of it, I hadn’t taken a step outside this building all day.
It was a cozy place, and it never got too crowded, either…although I’m sure
the owner had some mixed feelings about that.

“Didn’t we just have one of these two days ago?” said Eris.

She didn’t seem to be angry anymore. I expected her to sulk in the
room for at least a couple hours, but she ended up emerging after only about
ten minutes. The girl knew how to move on fast. I’d have to try and learn
from her example.

“Yes, but the situation’s changed since then. To be specific, there’s no
longer any need for us to earn money in Millishion. I think we should move
on relatively soon.”

With twenty king’s coins in our purse, there wasn’t much point trying
to make more money here. And as for gathering information, Paul had
already told me basically everything he knew. With our Superd PR campaign
on the back burner for now, that didn’t leave much for us to do in this city—
as I briefly explained.

I’d been hesitant to tell Eris about the current state of the Fittoa

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Region. But ultimately, I took this chance to go ahead and do so. It would
probably be best if she knew what awaited us, if only so she could brace
herself in advance.

“Eris, it sounds like our home doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Yeah.”

“Also…Philip and Sauros are both still missing.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Nobody knows where Ghislaine is either, so it’s possible—”

“Listen, Rudeus,” said Eris, folding her arms and sticking her chin into
the air. “I was always expecting things to be at least this bad.”

Her gaze was steady. Her expression was as intense and arrogant as
ever. There was no hint of doubt or uncertainty in her eyes.

Eris hadn’t forgotten about Fittoa. She’d been ready to face the worst.

With a small snort, she continued. “I’d bet Ghislaine is still out there
somewhere, but I knew there was a good chance Father and Grandfather were
dead.”

The two of us had been stranded in the middle of the Demon
Continent, after all. I guess she’d realized that many others might have
landed in equally dangerous situations. Of course, there was a chance she was
just putting on a brave face right now. With Eris, it was hard to tell the
difference between actual confidence and bluster.

“Oh, and I knew you were trying to hide all this from me, by the way.”

I wasn’t clear on exactly what she thought I’d been “hiding.” From the
sound of it, though, this wasn’t just an act. Eris had been thinking things
through in her own way. In other words, I was the only one who’d forgotten
entirely about the Fittoa Region.

That was kind of embarrassing.

“I see. Well, all right then.”

Eris really was one impressive young lady. Having reached that
conclusion, I decided to move on to our next topic.

“In any case, I was thinking we could depart Millishion about a week

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from now.”

“Are you sure?” asked Ruijerd.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Once we leave, you might never see your father again.”

“Well, that’s a little ominous…” Coming from Ruijerd, those words
carried some real weight. But it wasn’t like I was heading out to the frontlines
of some war. “The thing is, I’ve also got a few other family members I might
never see again. Right now, I think I’ll worry about finding them.”

“I see. That’s true enough.”

Since Ruijerd seemed convinced on that point, I moved on to the meat
of the matter. “For the rest of our journey, I’d like to prioritize information
gathering.”

We’d still be staying for about a week at every major town we reached.
But instead of focusing on earning money, we’d primarily use that time to
collect rumors and local gossip.

First and foremost, we’d be looking to find displaced Fittoans. The
route from Millis to Asura was this world’s equivalent of the Silk Road; no
other was more traveled, particularly by merchants and traders. The Search
and Rescue Squad had no doubt combed every mile of it. Still, there was a
chance we might find something they’d overlooked.

We’d also do what we could to improve the reputation of the Superd
while we poked around. But unfortunately, the name Dead End wasn’t that
well-known on Millis and the Central Continent. We might have to
reconsider our previous approach.

“There is one problem, though. I’m not sure how we can afford to
cross the sea.”

This was definitely the single biggest issue right now. In this world,
even “routine” sea travel was serious business. There were plenty of ways to
sneak your way across national borders on land, but when it came to boats
your options were severely limited…especially if you happened to be a
Superd.

“About that, Rudeus… Take a look at this.”

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Ruijerd pulled out an envelope. It was the same one he was about to
show me yesterday, before he’d noticed my condition.

I took it from him and examined it. The words “To Duke Bakshiel”
were scribbled on the front. On the back, I found a red wax seal, roughly
imprinted with something that looked like a family crest.

“What’s this?”

“A letter. An acquaintance of mine wrote it for me yesterday.”

Oh, right… Come to think of it, he’d mentioned he was going to go say
hello to someone he knew in this city.

“Can you tell us who this acquaintance is, Ruijerd?”

“A man named Gash Broche.”

“What’s his occupation?”

“I wouldn’t know. It seems he has some status here, though.”

Ruijerd went on to explain that he’d met Gash on the Demon Continent
some forty years ago, after rescuing his traveling party from a group of
monsters that very nearly wiped them out. Gash was only a child at the time,
and he’d initially looked at Ruijerd with a mixture of terror and hostility.
After spending some time together, though, they parted on relatively friendly
terms. Ruijerd delivered his party safely to the nearest town, and Gash told
him to stop by if he ever happened to visit Millishion.

Since he never left the Demon Continent, Ruijerd had forgotten about
that offer entirely. But then he happened to spot the man with his “third eye”
as we circled around the city’s outer walls, and it all came back to him.
Interested to see how the years had treated Gash, if also somewhat anxious
that the man might have forgotten him entirely, Ruijerd headed over to pay a
visit.

To his surprise, Gash recognized him instantly and showered him with
hospitality. At first, Ruijerd had just intended to say hello, but apparently the
two of them really hit it off. He ended up recounting the whole story of our
journey so far, and once he was finished, Gash wrote him up a letter on the
spot and told him to give it to the man in charge at West Port.

It was an interesting story. For one thing, Ruijerd didn’t usually make
friends that easily. Maybe this guy was something like Gustav of the

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beastfolk? Judging from the way he’d dashed off a casual letter to a duke, he
presumably had some real clout around here…

I wanted to take a peek at the letter inside, honestly. But as I recalled,
breaking this sort of seal would invalidate its contents.

“Sounds like this Gash guy is probably some sort of noble, huh?”

“I couldn’t say, but he did have many men.”

Whatever that meant. Was he talking about servants or something? The
word “many” was really vague, too…

Well, in any case, the man was a friend of Ruijerd’s. I wouldn’t be too
surprised if he turned out to be a kindhearted contender for the role of
Mamodo King. “Were you at his house?”

“Yes.”

“Was it large?”

“It was indeed.”

“Uhm, how large?”

“Not so large as Kishirisu Castle.”

Kishirisu Castle? Okay, so that ruled out the big palace in the middle of
the lake. Not that I was really expecting the guy to be a member of the royal
family. Still, this building had to be pretty damn big if Ruijerd was using a
castle as a point of comparison.

Hmm…

We were talking about a friend of Ruijerd here. He probably wasn’t a
bad guy. But from what Paul told me earlier, the noble in charge of the
customs station at West Port hated demons with a passion. If our friend Gash
was only moderately influential, handing over this letter might backfire
badly. Maybe we should take some time to find out exactly who he was?

Ruijerd looked so proud when he took out that letter, though. If I
voiced any suspicions about his new buddy, he’d probably give me an earful
about trust and honor.

Well, whatever. It wasn’t like I had any better ideas. For now, I might
as well go with the flow and keep Ruijerd happy. I could secretly ask Paul
about the name Gash Broche later.

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“Okay then,” I said. “Let’s hope that letter does the trick.”

Ruijerd responded with a small nod of approval.

That basically wrapped things up for now. We’d be setting out from
Millishion in one week. Until then, we’d accomplish what we could inside
the city.

“Personally, I wouldn’t mind leaving first thing tomorrow morning!”

With a small smile at Eris’ proposal, I declared our team meeting
officially adjourned.

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Chapter 6:
One Week in Millishion

The next morning, I headed over to the headquarters of the Search

and Rescue Squad to let Paul know about our plans.

The HQ itself was a perfectly ordinary two-story building. It didn’t
take long for me to find my father. He was hard at work in what seemed to be
a conference room, discussing something or other with roughly a dozen other
men. I could make out snatches of the conversation from outside; it seemed
they were preparing for a large operation of some kind.

From the way Paul looked the other day, I’d assumed he spent every
day in Millishion either getting drunk or nursing a hangover, but maybe my
timing had just been bad. Right now, he was the picture of a focused,
competent leader. I was impressed despite myself…at least, until someone
alluded to the fact that he’d skipped a month’s worth of meetings while on a
massive bender. From the sound of things, it was only yesterday that he’d
abruptly gotten motivated again.

It was most likely because Paul wanted to show me his better side. In
other words, he’d gotten back to work because of me.

Goodness gracious. The boys do love showing off for me…

With a theatrical sigh, I decided to wait for Paul to find a little free
time.

Sitting around in the room outside might get boring, so I opted to
wander around the building for a while. After a few minutes of exploration, I
came across my little sister Norn at play. She was in a room that seemed to be
serving as a nursery, playing blocks with a bunch of other kids around her
age.

“Hey there,” I said, raising a hand in greeting as her eyes met mine.

Norn started in surprise, then scowled and hurled the wooden block in
her hand, which I managed to catch. “Go away!”

This didn’t strike me as the friendliest way to say hello. Hmm. Had I

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done anything to make her upset with me? The only thing that came to mind
was that time I beat the crap out of Paul before her eyes.

Yeah, that probably had something to do with it.

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“Um…Father and I made up with each other, Norn,” I protested gently.

In response, she shouted “You liar!” and scampered off as fast as her
little legs would carry her.

Apparently, my baby sister hated my guts now. That was a bit of a
downer.

I didn’t want to upset her with my presence, so I headed back over to
the closest thing the building had to a waiting room. As I sat down in the
corner, a number of heads turned in my direction. I recognized at least a
couple of the guys I spotted “kidnapping” Somal the other day.

I was starting to get the feeling I might not be too popular in this place.

But before I really had time to bathe in the awkwardness, a familiar
woman walked into the room, and all eyes were suddenly on her. It was the
bikini-armor lady, back to her old half-naked ways. She spotted me
immediately and walked right over.

“Good morning,” I said.

“Good morning,” she replied with a smile and a small tilt of her head.
“Did you need something from us today?”

“Yes. I’m here to see my father, um…” What was this lady’s name
again? I felt like Paul hadn’t told me. “Ah, pardon me. I haven’t introduced
myself, have I? My name is Rudeus Greyrat, miss.” Rising to my feet, I put
one hand to my chest and offered an aristocratic bow.

“Uh, oh…m-my name’s Vierra,” replied the bikini-armor lady, her
hands fluttering anxiously in the air. “I’m a member of Captain Paul’s
squad.” She proceeded to return my bow, offering me a truly irresistible view
of her cleavage.

The girl really was a sight for sore eyes. Or even non-sore eyes,
honestly. I’d only just resolved to cut back on my perverted behavior, so I
didn’t want to stare. But I couldn’t seem to look away. All my good
intentions were meaningless in the face of her chest’s gravitational pull.

That outfit was just unfair.

“I’m very sorry I was so rude the other day. My father’s something of a
womanizer, so I’m afraid I got the wrong idea.”

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“No, no! It’s all right. I can understand why you’d think that, given
how I was dressed.” Vierra emphasized her words by shaking her head
vigorously. Certain other parts of her body also moved as a result. That bikini
armor did seem to be fixed in place to some degree, but it wasn’t enough to
keep her from jiggling when she made sudden movements. Those things were
big, after all.

Whoops. I was doing it again.

With an effort of will, I managed to tear my eyes away. “I’m not sure
it’s a great idea to hang around a bunch of men in that armor if you can help
it, miss. I’d imagine some people might find it a bit distracting. Maybe you
could put on a cloak over it, at least?”

Vierra smiled awkwardly. “I’m sorry, but there’s a reason that I wear
this.”

Maybe I was imagining things, but it felt like a lot of people were
looking over at me all of a sudden. Had I said something I shouldn’t have?
Well, whatever. I’d have to ask Paul about this later. “Do you know when
Father’s meetings will be over?”

Vierra cocked her head thoughtfully to one side. “Well, he has a whole
month’s worth of work to catch up on at the moment. I expect he might be
very busy for a while.”

“All right then. When you get a chance, could you let him know that
I’m planning to leave Millishion seven days from now?”

“Really? That seems awfully soon.”

“Well, it’s what we’re used to at this point.”

“I see… In that case, let me go get Shierra for you. Just a moment,
please.”

With that, Vierra pattered off somewhere or other. A few minutes later,
she returned with a familiar robed healer.

When the girl saw I was looking at her, she let out a little gasp and
stepped behind Vierra before saying anything. “The captain’s schedule is
jam-packed at the moment, but he has some free time in the evening four
days from now. Would you care to have dinner with him then?”

“Um, it’s all right if he’s too busy, you know.”

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“When he talks to you, the captain’s full of life and energy. He is very
busy, but I hope you’ll come anyway.”

Shierra’s voice sounded composed enough, considering she was still
hiding behind Vierra. This girl really seemed to hate me. Or maybe even fear
me. That was kind of regrettable, but…oh well.

“Four days from now, right? Okay then. Should I meet him at his inn?”
“I’ll make you a reservation at a restaurant our squad frequently visits.
Please head directly over there instead.”

Shierra proceeded to calmly provide me with an exact time and
location. We’d be eating at a place in the Commercial District by the name of
“Lazy Millis.” Just to be on the safe side, I asked about the dress code, but
apparently there wasn’t one.

This felt kind of odd, though. Like I was scheduling a business meeting
with the CEO of some major corporation. Paul had a secretary planning out
his days now, huh? The guy had certainly come up in the world.

“Will you be bringing a companion?”

Eris’ face popped into my mind, but in the same instant, I recalled her
shouting “I’ll kill that stupid jerk!” as she stormed off to murder Paul.

“No, I think I’ll come alone.”

With that, we’d ironed out all the details, so I took my leave.

***

Now then. A week wasn’t much time to work with, so we’d have to use
it productively. With that in mind, I headed over to the Millishion
Adventurers’ Guild.

The building was on the large side, as one might expect from the
headquarters of the whole organization. It was two stories tall and occupied
much more space than any other Guild branch I’d ever seen. Of course, I’d
seen a few skyscrapers in my time, so the sight didn’t exactly take my breath
away.

Once inside, I got to work gathering information.

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Initially I asked around about the Fittoa Region, but nobody seemed to
know anything that Paul hadn’t already told me. In this city, at least, the
Search and Rescue Squad was probably better informed about Fittoa than
anyone else.

Next, I looked for information on the monsters native to the Millishion
area.

From the sound of things, they weren’t comparable to the creatures of
the Demon Continent on the threat level. Mostly, you had stuff like the Giant
Locust, which was just a big grasshopper; the Meat-cutter Rabbit, a
carnivorous bunny; and the Rockworm, essentially an overgrown earthworm.
The majority of them posed very little danger to anyone.

They also tended to be very small, at least in comparison to the beasts
of the Demon Continent. In that harsh land, monsters several times larger
than humans were commonplace. Even the Pax Coyotes, which we’d hunted
to the brink of extinction (slight exaggeration), were over two meters in size;
Acid Wolves were more than three. As for the Great Tortoises, an ordinary
specimen might be eight meters long, and at their largest they could grow to
over twenty. The monsters that emerged during rainy season in the Great
Forest were mostly about the size of a grown man as well.

Size didn’t always correspond to strength, but sheer mass was a
weapon in its own right. All in all, the monsters around Millishion were puny
weaklings.

That was fine with me. One less thing to worry about.

Once I’d heard enough about the monsters, I took some time to
consider how we could improve the locals’ opinion of the Superd people.

Unfortunately, it seemed like we had our work cut out for us.

For one thing, there was a prominent political faction in Millishion that
advocated the “expulsion” of demonkind. The leaders of this group were
associated with the Temple Knights, one of the Millis Church’s holy military
orders. They loudly declared that all demons should be banished from the
Millis Continent entirely.

At present, this party wasn’t in control of Millis. The current pope
belonged to a more powerful faction that called for coexistence with
demonkind; as a result, the Temple Knights couldn’t take active steps to

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expel them. However, if a demon happened to cause trouble in the city,
they’d eagerly come running to harass everyone involved. Despite their
political weakness, they often got away with taking aggressive action in the
name of “justice” or “public order.”

If Ruijerd were to publicly announce he was a Superd and start doing
jobs around Millishion, the Temple Knights would be making our lives
miserable in no time. They had eyes and ears all over this city, from the
sound of things.

In that case, maybe we could try working outside of it.

With that thought in mind, I snatched up a B-ranked task the Guild had
only just put up on the board. Apparently, a rampaging monster in a local
village needed killing. The location was near enough that we could easily
make a day trip of it.

Our target this time was a Leaf Tiger. This was a monster native to the
southern regions of the Great Forest, but for whatever reason this one had
wandered south to take up residence in this area.

Leaf Tigers had coats of spotted green overlaid with a brown pattern.
This allowed them to blend into the forest perfectly. Because they were hard
to see and often moved in small packs, they were considered to be B-ranked
monsters. However, the one we were after was on its own, and its camouflage
was useless in these open grasslands. It was probably less of a threat than
your average Acid Wolf. I’d have placed it at Rank D, at most. Back when
we were on the Demon Continent, I would have jumped for joy to find a job
this easy on the board.

The three of us headed over right away. And just as we arrived, a big
green cat happened to be sauntering out of the village with a chicken in its
mouth.

It noticed us and dropped its prize to growl in our direction, but Eris
just said, “I’ll take this one,” ran up to it, and cut the thing clean in half.

Mission complete! Huh, that was quick.

The people of the village offered us their heartfelt thanks. This tiger

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had killed a lot of livestock and attacked several farmers in the area recently.

Normally, one of the holy military orders would have been dispatched
to protect them. But just a few days ago, there had apparently been a serious
incident where a Blessed Child was attacked in this vicinity. Her escort, a
unit of Temple Knights, was almost entirely wiped out; only their captain had
survived.

The knight captain just barely managed to protect the Blessed Child,
fortunately. But she was still relieved of her post in punishment for the grave
losses suffered.

The holy military orders were already on edge after a recent string of
suspicious slave kidnappings, even before this disaster. The news of it threw
both the Millis Church and their knights into an uproar. As a result, they’d
totally failed to do anything about a certain dangerous B-ranked monster. For
lack of any better options, the villagers had turned to the Adventurers’ Guild.

It was an interesting story. Not that it had much to do with us.

Now that I’d gathered what information I could, I moved on to a little
experiment.

To be specific, I told the villagers about the Superd. I explained that
our friend Ruijerd belonged to that tribe, and that his people were traveling
all over the world doing good deeds in an attempt to gain the friendship of the
other races.

“At a glance, the Superd might seem cold or even hostile, but it’s easy
enough to break through that stony exterior. You see this little statue right
here, folks? All you have to do is show a Superd one of these and mention
Ruijerd’s name. That fearsome scowl will melt into a happy smile, and you’ll
be best friends for life in minutes!”

It was a perfect sales pitch, if I do say so myself. Still, the village chief
looked less than enthusiastic. They were grateful to Ruijerd, but that wasn’t
enough to change their views on demonkind as a whole. And as followers of
the Millis Church, they weren’t interested in owning a statue of a demon.
With that said, he pushed the little figure back into my hands.

It seemed the experiment was a failure. This probably wasn’t a

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problem we could hope to solve immediately.
Maybe a figurine of a sexy girl would have been more effective. Ooh,

what if I made a gender-swapped version of Ruijerd?
Wait, no. That would defeat the whole purpose.

“I had no idea you’d made such a thing,” said Ruijerd, studying the
figurine admiringly as the three of us trudged back toward Millishion.

“Isn’t it amazing? Rudeus is really good at making those things!” For
some reason, Eris seemed very proud that I’d earned his approval.

While this one had been rejected, my figures did actually fetch a good
price on the market. They had quality enough to earn the admiration of a
certain beastfolk Sword King and a prince in some foreign country, after all.

Yes indeed. I was practically a royal artisan at this point!
“This position is no good at all, though.”
“Yeah, the stance is all wrong. You’d have to crouch much lower…”
Sad trombone noise.
Those two really knew how to burst a guy’s bubble.

***

Three days later—the day before my dinner appointment with Paul—I
realized that I didn’t have anything to wear to the restaurant.

There wasn’t a dress code, and this was just a family get-together. Still,
the clothes I’d bought back in the Demon Continent looked a bit shabby on
the streets of Millishion, so I headed out with Eris to do a little shopping.

This probably qualified as a date, although it wasn’t a particularly
exciting one. Eris was never too motivated about buying clothes and tended
to think everything looked “fine.” I figured I should take this chance to get
her a few new outfits as well. From this point on, we’d be traveling in
humankind’s territory, and they say first impressions are all about how you
present yourself. At the very least, I wanted us dressed well enough that

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people wouldn’t treat us rudely.

I kind of wished I could turn to a friend who knew something about
fashion for advice. But the only people I could even call “acquaintances” in
this city were that monkey-faced newbie and Vierra. I had no idea where
Geese was, and I wasn’t friendly enough with Vierra to ask her for a personal
favor.

Ultimately, I decided to study people going by until I had a feel for
things. Eris and I sat by a street and engaged in a bit of idle crowd-watching.

After a while, I noticed that blue clothing seemed somewhat popular at
the moment. Also, some people had cloaks or jackets on, but many others
didn’t bother. The climate here was nice enough that most outerwear was on
the lighter side.

“Looks like blue’s in style right now, doesn’t it?”

“Blue doesn’t work at all for you, Rudeus.”

Wow, blunt. Fortunately, I really didn’t care that much about the trends
of the hour. “What does work for me, then?”

“You’ve got that thing Geese gave you, right? Just go with that.”

She was talking about that fur vest, right? That thing was a little big on
me, though. It was long enough to look more like a coat. That said, it wasn’t
uncomfortable at all, so I did wear it sometimes. Mostly on colder days.

“That one’s not bad, but I feel like it’s a bit too long for me.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Why don’t you just cut it down to size, then?”

“That would just be a waste. I’m still a growing boy, remember?”

Chatting casually, the two of us picked out a few purchases. It didn’t
take long at all, which I chalked up to our mutual lack of interest. So, it came
as something of a surprise when, at the very end, Eris chose a rather
fashionable black dress embroidered with small white roses.

“Do you really want this one, Eris?”

“…What? Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, no. I bet it would look great on you.”

“Hmph. You don’t have to flatter me, you know.”

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After paying for our purchases, we headed back to the inn.

Finally, the big day arrived.

In the afternoon, I let Ruijerd and Eris know that I’d be having dinner
with my father that evening.

Ruijerd said “I’m glad to hear that” with a slightly relieved expression
on his face. I could actually see the happiness in his eyes. From the looks of
things, he very much wanted me to leave this city on good terms with my
father. Not that he had any cause to worry, of course. I was going to take full
advantage of this family-bonding opportunity.

“I’m coming, too!” announced Eris.

Turning, I found her staring me down in her usual arms-akimbo pose.

“Uhhh…”

“What? Is that a problem?”

If it wasn’t for the other day, I would have given in immediately, but
Eris clearly still felt some hostility toward my father. That was probably an
understatement, in fact. It seemed like she hated his guts. I could understand
how she felt to some degree, but I’d already decided to make nice with Paul.

If that was the only issue, I might have brought her with me and tried
to get the two of them on better terms. But this dinner was going to be our
first meal as a family in many years, you know? And I hadn’t patched things
up with Norn yet, either. Also, I did say that I’d be coming to the restaurant
alone.

“Would you mind staying here instead, Eris?”

All things considered, I wanted Eris to show a little self-restraint here.
Carrying a bomb into the middle of a raging forest fire didn’t strike me as the
best of ideas. Formally introducing her to the family could wait until the two
of us got a little more intimate than we were right now.

“Yes, I would mind! I’m coming too, got it?!”

Silly me. The word “self-restraint” wasn’t part of Eris’ vocabulary.

“Ruijerd, could you say something here?”

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When I turned back to Ruijerd in search of help, I found him holding a
hand to his chin in thought. His intense gaze moved from my face to Eris’,
and then back again. “You’ve made up with your father, haven’t you? It
shouldn’t be a problem, then. Let her come along.”

Wow! Stabbed in the back! Was this the same guy who’d punched Eris
to stop her from intervening last time?

Oh well. I guess I’d have to let the majority rule on this one. “Well, if
you say so, Ruijerd…”

“Hmph! What did you expect?”

“Just one thing, Eris. I want to stay on good terms with my father, so
please be polite to him, okay?”

“…Fine!”

Judging from her tone of voice, she had no intention of actually
keeping that promise. Not exactly reassuring.

Afterwards, I went upstairs to put on my brand-new clothes, then
headed over to the restaurant as a brand-new me (a.k.a. Newdeus). Eris
tagged along in the black dress we’d bought the other day.

I did my best to avoid the narrower side streets. There were lots of
kidnappers lurking in those dark alleys, and they could get a little violent in
some places. No reason to risk our new clothes getting messed up.

The main avenues had their dangers too, of course. Since it was around
dinner time, quite a few people were buying something like yakitori from the
outdoor stalls. If I bumped into one of those guys, the result would no doubt
be tragic. And if one of them walked into Eris, her Boreas Punch would
probably leave both of us drenched in their blood.

As a precautionary measure, I kept my Eye of Foresight active. By
constantly looking one second into the future, I was able to navigate us safely
through the crowds. I felt a bit bad for using such a powerful ability for
something this mundane, but at least we reached our destination without
incident.

That whole thing with the “reservations” had gotten me a little nervous.
As it turned out, though, Lazy Millis was a perfectly ordinary place. It was a

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stand-alone bar and restaurant, not part of an inn; most of the clientele
seemed to be relatively respectable locals. When I gave my name to the
waiter up front, he brought me and Eris over to our table immediately. The
fact that there were two of us went unremarked on. Paul was already sitting at
the table with an awkward smile on his face, along with a very grumpy-
looking Norn.

“Sorry, am I a bit late?”

“Uh, nah… Sorry about this, kiddo. Shierra got kind of carried away
for some reason. I told her the usual place would be fine, but…”

“Nothing wrong with a change of pace every once in a while, right?”

I started to pull out a chair, then stopped as I noticed that Eris was
looking rather grumpy herself. This technically wasn’t the first time she’d
met Paul, but maybe introducing them would be a good idea. “Um, Father,
this is Eris. As I told you the other day, she’s Philip’s daughter, and a
member of the Boreas—”

“Oh. Right, right.” Cutting me off mid-sentence, Paul rose to his feet
and turned to Eris. He straightened up and put one hand to his chest, then
lowered his head slightly. It was a practiced bow—no less smooth than
Philip’s. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss. I’m Paul Greyrat,
Rudeus’ father.”

Taken aback, Eris tried to glance at me, but couldn’t manage to totally
break eye contact with my father.

“Uh, I’m…E-Eris Greyrat…sir.” The expression on her face was still
grumpy. Nonetheless, she grabbed the ends of her dress and gave an
awkward little curtsy. It felt like she’d missed her chance to start screaming
or throwing punches.

I had to admit, I was impressed with Paul. Apparently, he’d learned a
thing or two about handling girls from his years as a womanizer.

…Since when could he pull off a bow like that, though?

“All right then. Why don’t we all sit down?”

In any case, our family dinner got underway without any bloodshed.

Eris and I settled into our seats. For the moment, Eris was keeping
quiet, but it was obvious she’d bare her fangs in an instant if things took a

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wrong turn. Paul still looked a bit uncomfortable. And as for Norn… Well,
she hadn’t even glanced at me yet.

Long story short, the mood wasn’t so great. Maybe it really had been a
mistake to bring Eris with me.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who found the situation a bit awkward.
After a few moments of silence, Paul turned to Norn with a troubled
expression on his face. “C’mon, kiddo. Your big brother’s here, see? Why
don’t you say hi to him?”

“No! I don’t wanna have dinner with some jerk who punched my
daddy!”

Eris scowled and started to open her mouth, but Paul was quicker.
“Don’t say that, kiddo. Sometimes Daddy deserves a punch or two.”

“But you didn’t do anything wrong!” said Norn, puffing out her little
cheeks in an adorable show of indignation.

“Your big brother and I already made up, okay? Isn’t that right,
Rudy?”

Oh boy. He was throwing this over to me, huh? Well, maybe this was
an opportunity of sorts. An opportunity to demonstrate my wit and charm!

“Oh, absolutely,” I said with a smile. “Want us to kiss and prove it?”

“Huh?!”

“Huh?”

For some reason, the line went over like a lead balloon. Was Paul that
opposed to the idea of swapping spit with his own son? Actually, I couldn’t
really blame the guy. I didn’t want to kiss him, either. Maybe we could just
forget I ever said that.

“Uh, anyway…the two of us are friends again now, Norn. Why don’t
you make up with your big brother too?”

“No way!”

Paul patted Norn on the head as she pouted. That golden hair of hers
really was pretty, though. It reminded me of Zenith. Come to think of it, she
used to sulk up a storm just like this whenever something ticked her off.
Maybe Norn had inherited that habit from her mother?

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After submitting to Paul’s petting for a little while, the kid abruptly
turned to glare at me. She had to tilt her head back just to look me in the face,
so the overall effect was more adorable than intimidating. “Daddy’s trying
really hard.”

Since this comment seemed to be directed at me, I responded as gently
as possible. “Yeah. I know he is.”

“He doesn’t kiss any girls or anything!”

“So I’ve heard. I’m sorry to have doubted him.”

“He’s always really nice to me, too!” Norn’s little eyes were filling up
with tears. Crap, did I say something mean? Please don’t start bawling, kid…
“Daddy always looks like he wants to cry!”

Flustered by Norn’s obvious distress, Paul and I looked at each other
uncertainly. “Wait, really?”

“Uh, well, I got a little—”

“I feel so sorry for him!”

Neither of us had anything to say to that.

“How could you beat him up like that? You’re so mean!”

Looking at Norn’s face, I had to fight the urge to heave a long, heavy
sigh. Paul and Norn had been teleported together. I knew all about that now.
She’d gotten very sick during their journey back to Fittoa and was nearly
attacked by monsters several times along the way. And it was her father
who’d protected her from all those dangers.

With her mother, maid, and sister missing, and her heart bursting with
anxiety, Paul was the only person she could rely on. For years, he was the
only family she had left.

And then some stranger showed up out of nowhere, knocked him
down, and started punching him in the face. That would be enough to
traumatize most kids her age.

“Norn, look. That was all my—”

“It’s all right, Father.”

If she was a little older, the three of us might have found a way to talk
this through. At her age, though, that was probably impossible. Both Paul and

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I had made mistakes and jumped to conclusions; we’d reconciled by
acknowledging our faults. But you couldn’t expect a child to understand that.
“Norn’s still very young. And if I was in her shoes, I don’t think I’d forgive
the jerk who punched you, either.”

It was sad that Norn hated me, but there wasn’t much I could do about
it. We’d just have to talk things through a few years down the road. Once she
was older, I was sure she’d understand. Time’s not an infinite resource, but it
can heal at least some wounds.

“No, it’s not all right.” Evidently Paul wasn’t on board with my plan,
though. “You guys might be the only siblings you’ve got left, okay? I want
you to be good to each other.”

As the meaning of those words sunk in, I frowned at my father. “That’s
a little ominous, don’t you think?”

“…Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

Well, this was no good at all. The mood was getting heavier by the
minute. It seemed like it was time for a change of subject. “By the way,
Father, what’s good here? I skipped lunch today, so I’m starving.”

Not the smoothest transition, no, but Paul seemed to pick up on what I
was doing. With a strained smile, he took his cue. “Hm, let’s see. They’ve got
a damn tasty seafood stew with fresh fish from the sea down south. Oh, and
the beef’s good too. They raise a lot of cattle in the farms around here, you
know? It actually tastes pretty different from the Asuran kind, especially
since they tend to boil it. Gives it a real nice, rich flavor.”

“Oh, I’ve got to try that. All the meat on the Demon Continent was
seriously foul.”

“You said it was mostly cuts of Great Tortoise, right? Yeah, most
monsters do taste pretty nasty.”

The conversation was finally starting to pick up some steam, but Norn
still had her head turned away. She only responded when Paul said something
to her, refusing to even glance in my direction. I’d more or less resigned
myself at this point, but it still kind of stung, you know?

Of course, this was the exact same thing I’d done to Paul just a few
days ago. I felt terrible about that, in retrospect.

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Eris wasn’t too pleased by Norn’s attitude, judging from the way she
was staring at her. I really didn’t want this to turn into a fight, but…it was
best to leave things be for now.

“Oh, right. There was something I was meaning to ask you about,
Father.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Do you know of anyone by the name of Gash Broche?”

“…Uh, nope. Where’d you hear that name?”

I took the chance to tell Paul about Ruijerd’s letter and the mysterious
friend who’d written it for us. I’d made a rough copy of the emblem on the
wax seal, so I took that out and showed it to him.

“A sheep, a hawk, and a sword, huh? Looks like the family crest of a
paladin. I don’t think I’ve heard the name Gash Broche before, though. Not
that I’m familiar with all the Millis nobles or anything.”

“I see… Do you think Shierra might know something about him?”

“Hmm, dunno. I’ll ask her later.”

It wasn’t reassuring that he’d never heard of the guy, but we’d just
have to wait and see.

With that topic exhausted, Paul and I went back to chatting about
anything that came to mind. Eventually we landed on the subject of my tenth
birthday.

According to Paul, the monsters in the forest outside Buena Village
had grown much more active about a month beforehand. Paul and Zenith had
been so busy trying to get the situation under control that they just didn’t
have the time to worry about my presents. They finally managed to clear the
forest the day before my birthday, but just as they were getting ready to send
me a few things, the Calamity took place.

As she listened to all this, Eris pouted with her lips pursed. Come to
think of it, she’d looked really sad when she found out Paul wasn’t coming to
that party.

“Just out of curiosity, what were you planning to send me?”

“I was going to give you a pair of gauntlets. I felt a little guilty, since

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I’d just found them in the back of our storehouse, but these were magic items
from the bottom of a labyrinth. Those things were light as feathers. They
never fit me, but I thought they might look good on you, Rudy.”

“No kidding? I didn’t know you had anything like that lying around.”

“Yep. Zenith said hers was a secret, but sometimes I noticed Lilia
looking at this little locked box with a smile on her face. I’m guessing that
was for you, too.”

“A box?” Now he had me curious. What could have been inside that
thing? Not that there was much point thinking about it. Whatever it was, it
was long gone now.

After this, we somehow got onto the topic of Zenith’s family. They
were evidently well-known among the Millis nobility, and had a history of
producing many talented and righteous knights. Unfortunately, my
grandparents had basically disowned Zenith when she left home, so they
weren’t too enthusiastic about helping search for her at first.

They’d changed their tune completely once they got a look at Norn,
though. This world was different from my old one in a lot of ways, but the
power of a cute grandkid was evidently universal.

“Hmm. I wonder if they’d give you more money if I stopped by?”

“Uh, I think that would probably backfire…”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I could try to act like a sweet little tyke for them,
but my true nature would most likely reveal itself in time. It wasn’t worth the
risk.

Not long after this exchange, the waiter finally brought our food out to
the table. “Okay, let’s dig in,” said Paul, his fork hovering theatrically in the
air. “Hmm, what first…?”

“This does look appetizing,” murmured Eris, studying the spread with
shining eyes. She seemed more like Paul’s child than I was, honestly. Then
again, Paul and Philip were cousins, so maybe that wasn’t too bizarre.

In any case, this seemed like a golden opportunity to improve Norn’s
image of me slightly. “Father, your manners are—”

“Cut it out, Daddy! You’ve got to pray before you eat!”

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The two of us had spoken almost simultaneously. Norn looked over at
me in surprise, but turned away sulkily a second later.

“Ha ha. Okay, kids.”

“…Fine, fine.”

Paul scratched his head ruefully, and Eris looked a bit reluctant, but
they both leaned back in their chairs for the moment. The four of us
proceeded to say a short Millis-style prayer. All this involved was clasping
your hands together and closing your eyes for a few seconds.

Eris and I weren’t believers, and Paul probably wasn’t either, but this
was just good table manners in this world. When in Rome and all that, you
know? We went through the motions without complaint.

For some reason, it seemed like Eris and Norn were in a slightly better
mood after this.

We enjoyed our food while chatting about nothing of real importance.
Paul and I did most of the talking, of course. Norn never looked in my
direction, and for her part, Eris kept mostly silent. Paul did start to speak to
her now and then, but the waves of hostility she emitted were strong enough
that he always thought better of it. It was probably wise of him not to poke
the beehive.

As Eris and I left the restaurant together, I heard her mutter, “Hmph, I
guess he kept himself under control this time,” under her breath.

I didn’t even want to think about how she might have reacted if Paul
had yelled at me, let alone taken a swing at me. But since there hadn’t been
any of that, her desire to murder him might have faded—at least slightly.

In that sense, at least, it had been a productive use of our time.

Our week in Millishion came to an end in no time at all.

On the day of our departure, we headed for the Adventurers’ District
gate. We’d finished loading our stuff into the carriage and were just getting
ready to head out when Paul showed up to see us off. “Hey, Rudy. You sure
you don’t want to stick around a little longer?”

Much as I appreciated the sentiment, it was a bit late for that now. “I’m

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sure that would be nice, but we might end up lazing around here for the next
year if we don’t get moving.”

“You and Norn haven’t even made up yet, though.”

“There’s time enough to work on that once we’ve found the other
three.”

Also, this wasn’t just about me. I glanced over at Eris. Ruijerd had
seized her by the scruff of her neck as a precautionary measure, but she was
still glaring daggers at Paul. I might have overestimated that girl’s ability to
quickly move on. “And I’m not the only who wants to see their family, you
know?”

“Right, of course. But the Boreas family’s probably—”

“Let’s not talk about it,” I said, cutting Paul off with a movement of
my hand. “It’s possible that Philip and Sauros will be waiting for us when we
get back to Fittoa, you know? The news might not have made it here yet.”

“Right. Yeah, that’s true. But you know, Rudy…” Paul paused for a
moment, his face growing grim. “You really shouldn’t be too optimistic
about that. Even if the two of them do make it back alive, there’s no telling
what might happen to them after a disaster of that scale.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Paul lowered his voice just a little. “Philip’s brother James is busy
trying to save his own neck. There’s a chance he’d push all the blame for this
mess onto one of them.”

Wow.

The idea hadn’t occurred to me before, but it sounded plausible. Sauros
was the lord of Fittoa, and Philip was the mayor of Roa; they’d both held
major positions of authority. Even if they made it back home, they might be
held responsible for the massive loss of life and property caused by the
Calamity.

I didn’t know exactly what that would mean. But at the very least, it
was hard to imagine they’d get to step back into their old roles and rebuild
their power. In fact, it wouldn’t be that surprising if someone had them
assassinated immediately. That would prevent Philip’s brother from using
them as scapegoats, making it far easier to corner him politically.

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“If things do look ugly, just make sure you keep the little lady safe.
Some people might trot out a bunch of crap about the ‘duties of the nobility,’
but you don’t have to pay them any mind.”

“Of course,” I said, nodding with the most serious expression I could
muster. “I’ll be careful, Father.”

Paul smiled proudly and nodded back. “Oh, and I asked Shierra about
that letter, by the way. She’s never heard of the guy, either.”

“I see…”
“She did say he probably wasn’t anyone dangerous, though.”
“All right then. Would you mind thanking her for me?”
Paul nodded slightly. And then, finally, he turned around and spoke to
the little girl who’d been standing behind him. “Come on, Norn. Say goodbye
to your big brother.”
“…Don’t wanna.”
Norn didn’t move from her hiding spot behind her father. Half her face
was peeking out, though. Talk about adorable. I found myself wondering if
she’d grow up into a beauty like her mother. “I don’t know how long it will
take, Norn, but let’s meet again someday.”
“Don’t wanna.”
Right until the very end, my little sister refused to look me in the face.
Smiling awkwardly, I headed back to our carriage.
And just like that, our party left the city of Millishion behind.

Paul

Just like that, Rudeus was back on the road again.

The kid was as impressive as ever. He figured out his plans in no time,
then put them into action immediately. Elinalise once told me I was “rushing
through my life,” didn’t she? You had to wonder what she’d think if she got a
look at him.

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It might be fun to get the two of them to meet sometime, but…maybe
that wasn’t such a great idea. Yeah. The last thing I wanted was to end up as
that woman’s father-in-law.

Just as I’d reached this conclusion, someone slapped me on the
shoulder. I turned to find a monkey-faced man grinning at me. “Hey there,
Paul. You done sayin’ goodbye to your son?”

“Geese…” I was grateful to this jerk; more grateful than I could
express in words. If it wasn’t for him, I probably never would have made up
with Rudeus. “I seriously owe you one, man.”

“Hey, don’t sweat it!”

At this point, I noticed that Geese was dressed for the road. “What’s
with you, though? You going somewhere?”

“Yeah. Not sure where just yet, but there’s plenty of places you folks
ain’t poked around in yet, right?”

It took a moment for me to realize what he was saying. Geese was
going to keep searching for my family. That came as a shock, frankly. Of all
the members of my old party, Geese had struggled the most after I disbanded
it. He wasn’t a fighter, but a jack-of-all-trades without any real specialties.
No other party would take him in, and he wasn’t strong enough to handle
tough jobs on his own. He’d been forced to leave the adventuring life behind.
He had all the reason in the world to resent me, even hate me.

“Why are you…doing this, Geese? Why are you trying so hard to find
them?”

The corners of Geese’s mouth twitched up into his usual ironic smirk.
“Just feels like my fortune.” And with that typically cryptic “explanation,” he
turned and walked away.

I put my hands on my hips and watched him go with a wry smile on
my face. The man had a lot of ideas about luck, and none of them had ever
made much sense to me. But this time, I wasn’t exactly complaining. “All
right then!”

Once Geese disappeared from view, I reached down and hoisted Norn
up onto my shoulders. All of a sudden, I was bursting with energy and
motivation.

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First things first—we had to make sure that the refugee relocation
operation went off without a hitch. And once that was done with, I’d find the
rest of my family. No matter what it took.

With my resolve fixed firmly in my heart, I headed back into the city.

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Interlude:
Eris the Goblin Slayer

Apologies for the abrupt digression, but let’s talk about a young man

named Cliff Grimoire.

Cliff was twelve years old at present—right between Eris and Rudeus
in age. As a young child, he’d resided in an orphanage in Millishion. This
facility was operated by the Millis Church, and served as a symbol of its
power and prestige. Naturally, it didn’t lack for funding or support; its
children were well taken care of in every way, and many were eventually
adopted.

After several years in this upscale institution, Cliff was adopted at the
age of five by his current foster father. This was Harry Grimoire, an elderly
man of high rank in the Millis Church.

Once Cliff joined Harry’s household, he underwent a rigorous
educational program designed to nurture his natural talents. In only a few
short years, he attained an Advanced rank in Healing, Detoxification, and
Divine Strike magic. He also learned to cast spells of the Intermediate rank in
all the disciplines of offensive magic, and even Advanced-tier Fire spells.

In a word, Cliff was a prodigy.

Everyone around the boy showered him with praise; everyone told him
that he would one day make his mark on the world.

In these respects, his early years were similar to those of Rudeus. But
unlike Rudeus, who had the memories of his previous life to keep him
humble, Cliff grew arrogant. The kid was full of himself, quite frankly. Very
much so.

In a sense, it was hard to blame him. Even among his instructors, there
was no one who could use such a wide variety of magic as proficiently as
him. Some could cast Saint-tier Healing spells, true; others had mastered
Saint-tier Detoxification spells. However, only Cliff was Advanced in four
distinct disciplines. The sheer breadth of his skills was such that some said he
was a sage in the making. The boy’s ego grew larger by the day. Gradually,

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